Battery-connecting plate, method of producing same and wire protector

ABSTRACT

A battery-connecting plate consists of busbars for connecting batteries together and a wire protector which holds in a predetermined layout therein terminals and their connection wires for detecting voltage of desired ones of the batteries. The busbars and the wire protector are fixed in a resin plate by insert molding, with the busbars arranged in correspondence with the batteries and with the terminals held in contact with related ones of the busbars. The busbars, the voltage detecting terminals and others are integrally incorporated in the connecting plate so that these components are less exposed to the outside. The connecting plate is thus safe and easy to mount.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to a battery-connecting plate for use witha battery holder which receives a large number of cylindrical batteriesand which is mounted as in an electric vehicle, a method of producingsame, and a wire protector.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] A battery-connecting plate 100 as shown in FIGS. 18A, 18B isconventionally used as a means of connecting a plurality of batteries inseries or in parallel.

[0005] The connecting plate 100 includes a molded resin plate 103, abusbar 102 for connecting two batteries 101, fixed in the resin plate103 by molding, the two batteries having nut-type positive and negativeelectrodes 101 a, 101 b, and a hexagonal and a square windows 103 a, 103b in which electrode-connecting busbar holes 102 a are exposed. Theconnection of the two batteries 101 is effected by fastening the busbar102 to the nut-type positive and negative electrodes 101 a, 101 b withthe bolts 104, at which time at the hexagonal window 103 a a roundterminal 105, which constitutes part of a voltage detecting circuit, isconcurrently connected. In other words, the wire 106 connected to theround terminal 105 has a fuse 108 interposed in series therein andextends therefrom to a not-shown ECU. The fuse 108, which is enclosed ina fuse casing 107, is connected at its opposite ends, via a femaleterminal 109, to the wire 106.

[0006]FIG. 19 shows another example of a conventional connecting plate.

[0007] The connecting plate 100′ includes a molded resin plate 103 and aplurality of L-shaped busbars 102′ fixed in the resin plate 103 bymolding, the L-shaped busbars having connection legs 102 b′ of differentlengths which have one end projected at one side of the molded resinplate 103. A wire 106 is welded at one end to the thus projected end ofeach L-shaped busbar and extends, via a fuse 108′ enclosed in a fusecasing 107′, to a not-shown ECU.

[0008] The fuse casing 107′ includes a base plate 110 and a pair ofopposed L-shaped pressure-welding terminals 111 provided on the baseplate, the pair of terminals 111 each having a base plate 111 a whereatthe wire 106 is welded and a pressure-welding piece 111 b with a slot111 c rising from the base plate 111 a, and the fuse 108 having itsleads 108 a′ pressure-welded via the slots 111 c to the respectivepressure-welding pieces 111 b.

[0009] The connecting plate 100 of FIG. 18 requires many connections inone circuit, for example, six connections in the voltage detectingcircuit as shown at characters a, b . . . f, and also requires a largecomponents count, possibly resulting in reliability in electricconnection lowered. Further, the wired round terminals 105 require amanual operation one by one during their bolting, and hence as thenumber of wires 106 increases, it will become troublesome to bolt theround terminals 105 and to lay their wires 106.

[0010] On the other hand, the connecting plate 100′ of FIG. 19 requiresL-shaped busbars 102′ of different sizes, and hence is disadvantageousin the production cost of the L-shaped busbars and their administration.Further, as is the case of the connecting plate 100, there are requireda large components count and a large connections count in one circuit(five connections of a′, b′ . . . e′), and besides difficulty isencountered in protecting the welds between the wires 106 and theircorresponding connection legs 102 b′.

[0011] Further, the connection wires 106 of the connecting plates 100,100′, being directly connected to the related batteries 101, need to beproperly protected. Due to the bulky member of the fuse casing 107, 107′interposed, however, such a protection structure will inevitably becomecomplicated.

[0012]FIG. 20 shows the case in which batteries are connected togethernot with a connecting plate, but directly with wires. In other words,each prism-shaped battery 101′ has positive and negative electrodes 101a′, 101 b′ juxtaposed at one end, a main power wire 112 is used toconnect neighboring batteries to each other, and wires 106 each with afuse casing 107 (voltage detecting circuits), as in the case of FIG. 18,are connected to predetermined electrodes 101 b′.

[0013] Also in this case, a large components count is required. Further,the wires are dangerously exposed at many portions. In addition, due tothe intersecting main power wires 112 and voltage detecting circuitconstituting wires 106, the wiring becomes complicated so as to cause animproper wiring.

[0014] Under these conditions, it is conceived to embed the connectionwires 106 of the connecting plate 100, 100′ in the molded resin plate103 by insert molding.

[0015] With a conventional method of insert molding, however, as shownin FIGS. 21A, 21B, the wires 113, although firmly fixed inside themolded resin plate 114, become free outside the plate. Consequently,concentration of stress tends to take place at the roots 113 a of thewires 113 located at the edge of the molded resin plate 114, so that inextreme cases the wires 113 are cut at the roots 113 a by the action ofa minimal external force. To prevent this, it is conceived to bundle thewires 113 with a band 115 or to fix the wires to a wall of the moldedresin plate 114 through a fixture. The concentration of stress at theroots 113 a, however, cannot be fully precluded, because the aboveoperation is effected only after completion of the insert molding.

[0016] Further, there remains another cause of the cutting of the wires113 at the roots 113 a, which is the biting by the upper and lower dies116 at the outlet of the wires.

[0017] Further, with a conventional method of insert molding, because,as shown in FIG. 22, the molten resin injected from the nozzle 119 of amolding machine into the mold 116 has a temperature higher than theheat-resisting temperature of the insulating cover 113 b of commonlyused wires 113, it has been required to use heat-resistant wires coveredas with polyimide, resulting in a cost increase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0018] This invention has been accomplished to overcome the abovedrawbacks and an object of this invention is to provide abattery-connecting plate which has integrally incorporated therein byinsert molding battery-connecting busbars,voltage-detecting-circuit-constituting terminals and others, so thatthese components are less exposed to the outside, and is safe and easyto mount, and to provide a method of producing such battery-connectingplate.

[0019] Another object of this invention is to provide abattery-connecting plate which has a low parts count and low connectionscount, is highly reliable in electric connection, and does not causeimproper connection and improper wiring to batteries.

[0020] Yet another object of this invention is to provide abattery-connecting plate which does not cause concentration of stress atthat part of connection wires whereat the connection wires extend out ofthe molded resin plate.

[0021] Yet another object of this invention is to provide a method ofproducing a connecting plate according to which a commonly used wirecovered with polyvinyl chloride or polyethylene can be used in place ofa special heat-resistant wire such as polyimide-covered wire and whichcan thus be produced at a low cost.

[0022] A further object of this invention is to provide a wire protectorwhich enables the production of the connecting plate as mentioned above.

[0023] In order to attain the objects, according to an aspect of thisinvention, there is provided a battery-connecting plate which comprises:busbars for connecting batteries together; and a wire protector whichholds in a predetermined layout therein terminals and their connectionwires for detecting voltage of desired ones of the batteries, thebusbars and the wire protector being fixed in a resin plate by insertmolding, with the busbars arranged in correspondence with the batteriesand with the terminals held in contact with related ones of the busbars.

[0024] Preferably, the terminals each comprises a contact portionsuperimposed on the respective busbar, a wire connecting portion atwhich connected to the respective connection wire, and an element mountportion linking the contact portion and the wire connecting portion, andthe connecting plate further comprises circuit protector elements whichare, after completion of the insert molding, connected to the respectiveelement mount portions of the terminals.

[0025] Preferably, the connection wires connected to the respectiveterminals are let out of the resin plate at one side thereof.

[0026] According to another aspect of this invention, there is provideda method of producing the battery-connecting plate as mentioned above,which comprises the steps of: providing busbars which connect batteriestogether; attaching terminals to one end of wires to produceterminal-attached wires for detecting voltage of desired ones of thebatteries, the terminals each having a contact portion, a wireconnecting portion at which attached to the respective wire, and anelement mount portion linking the contact portion and the wireconnecting portion; placing the terminal-attached wires in apredetermined layout in a wire protector, with tail portions of thewires let out at one side of the wire protector; setting the busbars andthe wire protector in a mold such that the busbars are in positioncorresponding to an arrangement of the batteries, and the terminals havetheir contact portions superimposed on the respective busbars; injectingresin into the mold to produce a molded piece with the busbars and theterminal-attached wires embedded threin, with the contact portions ofthe terminals on the respective busbars and the element mount portionsof the terminals left uncovered by the resin; and cutting the elementmount portion of each of the terminals and connecting a respectivecircuit protector element to the element mount portion in a bridgingmanner across the cut.

[0027] Preferably, the busbars each has at least one electrodeconnection hole and the contact portions of the terminals each has acentral hole, and wherein the contact portions are superimposed on therespective busbars with their holes aligned to each other.

[0028] Preferably, the element mount portions of the terminals eachcomprises a link piece at which the element mount portion is cut.

[0029] According to yet another aspect of this invention, there isprovided a wire protector which comprises: a protector body including atrunk receiver for receiving trunk wires and a plurality of branchreceivers continuous to the trunk receiver for receiving branch wiresfrom the trunk wires, the plurality of branch receivers each including aterminal holder provided at a free end thereof and an expandablepositional deviation absorbing portion arranged at an intermediatelength thereof; and an open/close cover including a main cover forcovering the protector body from the trunk receiver to the positionaldeviation absorbing portions of the branch receivers and a plurality ofsubcovers for covering the respective branch receivers from the terminalholder to the positional deviation absorbing portion, the main cover andthe subcovers being rotatably linked via hinges to the protector body atpositions corresponding to the trunk receiver and the respective branchreceivers.

[0030] Preferably, the wire protector further comprises a wireletting-out portion provided at one end of the trunk receiver, the wireletting-out portion having a plurality of wire placement grooves, and alit provided on the main cover corresponding to the wire letting-outportion.

[0031] Preferably, the positional deviation absorbing portion of each ofthe branch receivers comprises a pair of bent portions formed in astaggered manner in opposed side walls of the branch receiver andstoppers provided projecting in a staggered manner from one to the otherof inner surfaces of the bent wall portions.

[0032] Preferably, the wire protector further comprises a positioningrib provided on the protector body or the open/close cover forpositioning the wire protector in a mold.

[0033] The above and other objects, features and advantages of thisinvention will become apparent from the following description and theappended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a battery holder provided withbattery connecting plates according to one embodiment of this invention;

[0035]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the connecting plates inFIG. 1;

[0036]FIGS. 3A and 3B are connection diagrams obtained when batteriesare connected in series by the connecting plates of FIG. 1, of which

[0037]FIG. 3A shows a battery voltage detecting circuit and

[0038]FIG. 3B shows a battery temperature detecting circuit;

[0039]9

[0040]FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of an essential portion ofthe connecting plate of FIG. 2;

[0041]FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a busbar, voltagedetecting terminal and circuit protecting element of FIG. 4, shown in aconnected condition;

[0042]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a wire protector shown in anopened condition, which constitutes the battery-connecting plate of FIG.1;

[0043]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a harness consisting of the wireprotector of FIG. 6, and voltage detecting terminals and theirconnection wires held in the wire protector;

[0044]FIG. 8A is a perspective view of a positional deviation absorbingportion of the wire protector of FIG. 6;

[0045]FIG. 8B is a plan view of the absorbing portion of FIG. 8A, shownwith a wire laid therethrough;

[0046]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a terminal holder of the wireprotector of FIG. 6 and voltage detecting terminals, shown in mutualrelation;

[0047]FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the voltage detecting terminalsabout to be mounted in related receiver frames of the terminal holder ofFIG. 9;

[0048]FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a wire letting-out portion of theharness of FIG. 7;

[0049]FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of a step for producing thebattery-connecting plate of FIG. 1;

[0050]FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of a step subsequent to that ofFIG. 12;

[0051]FIG. 14 is an explanatory view of the harness of FIG. 7 beingsubjected to insert molding;

[0052]FIG. 15 is a plan view of the harness of FIG. 7 set in a mold;

[0053]FIG. 16A is an essential portion perspective view showing thebusbar and the voltage detecting terminal in a connected condition inthe connecting plate after insert molded;

[0054]FIG. 16B is a view similar to FIG. 16A, showing the circuitprotecting element (fuse) about to be mounted;

[0055]FIG. 17A is a sectional view taken along the line X-X of FIG. 16B;

[0056]FIG. 17B is a sectional view taken along the line Y-Y of FIG. 16B,shown with the fuse connected;

[0057]FIG. 18A is an essential portion perspective view of one exampleof a conventional connecting plate for a battery holder;

[0058]FIG. 18B is a sectional view of a fuse holder in FIG. 18A;

[0059]FIG. 19 is an essential portion perspective view of anotherconventional connecting plate for a battery holder;

[0060]FIG. 20 is an explanatory view of another example of aconventional method of connecting batteries;

[0061]FIG. 21A is an explanatory view of a conventional fixing structureof wires by a molded resin plate;

[0062]FIG. 21B is an explanatory view of upper and lower dies for theconventional fixing structure of FIG. 21A; and

[0063]FIG. 22 is an explanatory view of a conventional method ofinjecting resin into a mold.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0064] Embodiments of this invention will now be described withreference to the attached drawings.

[0065] In FIG. 1, denoted A is a long cylindrical battery used as in anelectric vehicle and B is a battery holder for receipt therein of aplurality of the batteries A. The battery A includes a main body 1,female-thread nut type positive and negative electrodes 2 a, 2 bprovided at opposite ends of the main body 1, and a PTC element 3secured to the outer periphery of the main body for checking thegeneration of heat from the battery A. The battery holder B consists ofa rectangular parallelepiped frame body 4 and connecting plates 10, 10′assembled at opposite sides of the frame body. The frame body 4, in theillustrated example, includes a plurality of support plates 6, eachhaving a total of 21 (7 by 3) battery insertion holes 5, stays 7 whichhold the support plates 6 in a parallel arrangement with one another,and major walls 8 one of which is provided with bolts 9 for fasteningthe frame body 4 to a vehicle body.

[0066]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the connecting plate 10, FIGS. 3Aand 3B are connection diagrams of the batteries A connected in serieswith the connecting plates 10, 10′ and show a battery voltage detectioncircuit and a battery temperature detection circuit, respectively. FIG.4 is an essential portion enlarged view of the connecting plate 10, andFIG. 5 is a perspective view of a busbar, a voltage detecting terminaland a circuit protecting element in FIG. 4 in a connected condition.

[0067] The connecting plate 10 includes a molded resin plate 11, and aplurality of busbars 16, 16′ (FIG. 15) for connecting the batteries anda wire protector 23 (FIG. 6), both fixed in the molded resin plate 11 byinsert molding, which wire protector holds therein voltage detectingterminals 17 which are connected to the busbars 16, 16′ and theirconnection wires 22.

[0068] The molded resin plate 11 has battery-connecting hexagonalwindows 12 and square windows 12′ arranged in correspondence with thebatteries A. A PTC element connecting square window 13 is juxtaposed toeach window 12, 12′. Two fuse mount windows 14 are juxtaposed betweendesired ones of the hexagonal windows 121 and of the square windows121′. Between neighboring square windows 13, 13 are embedded connectionpieces 15 which connect the PTC elements 3 in series, in such a mannerthat their opposite ends 15 a, each with a connection hole 15 b, areexposed in the related square windows 13. A fuse 21 is received in eachfuse mount window 14.

[0069] The busbar 16 is provided in ring-shaped plate form for flowing alarge current, provided at its opposite ends with electrode connectionholes 16 a, and has a length corresponding to the spacing betweenneighboring electrodes A. The busbar 16′ is U-shaped to connect theelectrodes A in neighboring rows of electrodes.

[0070] Of the busbars 16 (16′), for example to those designated at 16 ₁are connected voltage detecting terminals 17.

[0071] The voltage detecting terminal 17 includes a contact portion 18which is superimposed on the busbar 16, and an element mount portion 19and a wire connecting portion 20 continuous from the contact portion 18in this order, and is integrally stamped out of an electricallyconductive metallic plate, followed by bending.

[0072] The contact portion 18 is provided in a square or rectangularplate form of such size as to be superimposed on an end of the busbar16, and has a center bolt insertion hole 18 a of the same diameter asthe electrode connection hole 16 a and a plurality of small diameterresin leakage checking holes 18 b (eight in the illustrated example)surrounding the hole 18 a. The contact portion 18 has a resin leakageprevention piece 18 c bent at one side thereof, and a continuous piece18 d bent downwardly at the side perpendicular to the side where theprevention piece 18 c is provided, via which the element mount portion19 is continuous to the contact portion 18.

[0073] By abutting the resin leakage prevention piece 18 c and thecontinuous piece 18 d against respective edges at the end of the busbar16, the electrode connection hole 16 a and the bolt insertion hole 18 ahave their centers aligned with each other. The edge 18 e at thecontinuous piece 18 d side of the contact piece 18 steps back to belocated slightly rearwardly as compared with the continuous piece 18 d.

[0074] The element mount portion 19 includes a pair of lead connectionpieces 19 a, 19 a and a link piece 19 b which integrally links the leadconnection pieces. The fuse 21 includes a fuse body 21 a and leads 21 bextending at opposite ends of the fuse body. Each lead connection piece19 a has a lead connection hole 19 c for receiving the respective lead21 b of the fuse 21. The element mount portion 19 is as a whole locatedat a one-step lower level than the contact portion 18 through thecontinuous piece 18 d and one lead connection piece 19 a, and extendsparallel to the end surface of the busbar 16. The other lead connectionpiece 19 a has a wire connection portion 20 with a wire barrel 20 a andan insulator barrel 20 b to which a covered wire 22 is at one endconnected through crimping of the barrels 20 a, 20 b. The wire 22 iswired at the other end side to a wire letting-out portion 36 at one sideedge 11 a of the molded resin plate 11, at which the wires 22 are heldat a predetermined spacing and let out of the molded resin plate 11.

[0075] The element mount portion 19, i.e., the pair of lead connectionpieces 19 a, 19 a and their linking piece 19 b, as shown in FIG. 16, areexposed in the fuse mount window 14 of the resin plate 11.

[0076] The link piece 19 b of the element mount portion 19, aftermolding the resin plate 11 by insert molding, is cut and removed throughthe fuse mount window 14, and the leads 21 b of the fuse 21 are insertedinto the lead connection holes 19 c of the respective lead connectionpieces 19 a, followed by their soldering to the lead connection piecesto connect the fuse 21 to the voltage detecting terminal 17.

[0077] The insert molding here is effected, apart from the busbars 16,16′, with the voltage detecting terminals 17 and their connection wires22, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, held in advance in a predetermined layoutin a wire protector 23.

[0078] The wire protector 23 includes a protector body 24 and anopen/close cover 42, both made of synthetic resin.

[0079] The protector body 24 includes a trunk receiver 25 provided inwide U-shaped form for receiving a large number of trunk wires and aplurality of branch receivers 26 extending from the trunk receiver 25and provided in narrow U-shaped form. In the illustrated example, thereare provided a total of six branch receivers 26 ₁, 26 ₂ . . . 26 ₆ whichintersect the trunk receiver 25 at right angles in T-shaped form atlongitudinally opposite ends and an intermediate portion of the trunkreceiver 25. The cover 42 includes a main cover 42 ₀ and six subcovers42 ₁, 42 ₂ . . . 42 ₆ for the trunk receiver 25 and for the branchreceivers 26.

[0080] Each branch receiver 26 has a positional deviation absorbingportion 27 at its intermediate length and a terminal holder 32 at itsfree end.

[0081] The positional deviation absorbing portion 27, as shown in FIGS.8A and 8B, includes V-shaped (or U-shaped) bent portions 28, 28′ formedin a staggered manner in opposed side walls 26 a at an intermediatelength of the branch receiver 26 and a cutout 29 formed in the bottomwall 26 b between the bent portions 28, 28′, so as to enable expansionand contraction to some degree. Further, there are provided three wirestoppers 30 which extend in a staggered manner from one to the other ofthe inner surfaces of the bent portions 28, 28′ and two wire separatingpins 31 upstanding on the bottom wall 26 b, one on each side of thecutout 29.

[0082] With such structure, as shown in FIG. 8b, the two wires 22 laidin the branch receiver 26 are separated from each other at both up- anddownstream sides of the positional deviation absorbing portion 27 by therespective wire separating pins 31 and wired in the absorbing portion 27with bent portions 22 a formed by the cooperation of the bent portions28, 28′ and the three wire stoppers 30, thereby enabling the two wires22 to smoothly follow the bending or stretching of the positionaldeviation absorbing portion 27.

[0083] The terminal holders 32 provisionally hold the respective voltagedetecting terminals 17 in position for insert molding.

[0084] In other words, the terminal holder 32—which is provided inL-shaped form at the free end of the branch receiver 26 and extends inparallel to the trunk receiver 25—includes, as shown in FIG. 9, tworeceiver grooves 33 of small width for receiving the wire connectionportions 20 of the related voltage detecting terminals 17 and tworeceiver frames 34 of large width for receiving the related elementmount portions 19 of the voltage detecting terminals 17. Opposite sidewalls 33 b at the receiver grooves 33 are provided with lock projections35.

[0085] Opposite side walls 34 b at the receiver frames 34 are providedat their forward upper edges with cutouts 34 c and on their rearwardouter surfaces with recessed portions 34 d. Further, receiving seats 34e are provided inside each receiver frame 34.

[0086] The downwardly extending continuous piece 18 d of the voltagedetecting terminal 17 is placed at its base in the cutout 34 c so thatthe element mount portion 19 is disposed on the inside receiving seats34 e, and the side edge 18 e, which is indented relative to thecontinuous piece 18 d, adjoins the recessed portion 34 d. Following theabove, the subcover 42 ₁ (42 ₂ . . . 42 ₆) is closed so that its frame49 is fitted in the related receiver frames 34 to hold the continuouspiece 18 d between the side walls 34 b, 49 b, thereby to provide thefuse mound window 14 FIG. 4).

[0087] While in the example of FIG. 9, two receiver grooves 33 and tworeceiver frames 34 are juxtaposed in one terminal holder 32, divided byrespective central partition walls 33 a, 34 a, it is also possible toprovide one receiver groove 33 and receiver frame 34 in one terminalholder 32 as shown at the free end of the branch receiver 263 in FIG. 6.

[0088] Reverting to FIG. 6, at one end of the trunk receiver 25 of theprotector body 24 is provided a wire letting-out portion 36 which is, inthe illustrated example, integral with the confluent outer side walls ofthe branch receivers 26 ₁ and 26 ₂. The wire letting-out portion 36includes wire placement grooves 37 at its central upper surface,positioning holes 38 at its left and right sides, and lock means at itsone end, the lock means having a wire holding band 39 with a lock piece40 at its free end and a lock portion 41 with an insertion hole 41 a forthe lock piece 40. The lock piece 40, as shown in FIG. 11, has a lockhole 40 a for locking engagement therein of a resilient lock arm 41 blocated inside the insertion hole 41 a.

[0089] The trunk receiver 25 and each branch receiver 26 of theprotector body 24 are provided at suitable positions on their oppositeside walls 25 a, 26 a with lock projections 35 as are on the oppositeside walls 33 b of the receiver grooves 33 (FIG. 9), and a group of wireseparating pins 31 are provided inside the trunk receiver 25 atpredetermined spacings at the confluence with each branch receiver 26.

[0090] The main cover 42 ₀ of the cover 42 covers the trunk receiver 25,the wire letting-out portion 36 and each branch receiver 26 up to thepositional deviation absorbing portion 27 and is rotatably linked viahinges 43 to the side wall opposite the wire letting-out portion 36,i.e., to the outer confluent side walls of the branch receivers 26 ₅, 26₅. The main cover 42 ₀ has resilient lock pieces 44 projecting atpositions corresponding to the lock projections 35 of the trunk receiver25 and each branch receiver 26, the lock pieces 44 each having a lockhole 44 a and engageable with the related lock projection 35, and a lid45 at its free end for the wire letting-out portion 36. The lid 45 has arow of wire holding grooves 46 at its central portion which correspondto the wire placement grooves 37, positioning pins 47 at its oppositesides corresponding to the positioning holes 38 and a hole 45 a at itsone end corresponding to the insertion hole 41 a of the lock portion 41.

[0091] The subcover 42 ₁ (42 ₂ . . . 42 ₆) covers the related branchreceiver 26 ₁ (26 ₂ . . . 26 ₆) from the terminal holder 32 to thepositional deviation absorbing portion 27, includes a lid 48 for thereceiver grooves 33 and the frame 49 fittable in the receiver frames 34,and is rotatably linked via a hinge 43 to the terminal holder 32 as isthe case with the main cover 42 ₀. The lid 48 is provided at itsopposite sides with resilient lock pieces 44 engageable with thecorresponding lock projections 35. The frame 49, like the receiverframes 34, is divided into two parts by a partition wall 49 a, hascutouts 49 c on its opposite side walls 49 b corresponding to thecutouts 34 c, and has those parts of the side walls 49 b below thecutouts 49 c formed as thin recessed walls 49 d.

[0092] The main cover 42 ₀ and each subcover 42 ₁ (42 ₂ . . . 42 ₆), asshown in FIG. 7, have positioning ribs 50 extending in their respectivelongitudinal directions on the front surface, which ribs serve tofacilitate their positioning in a mold. These ribs 50 may be provided onthe underside of the protector body 42.

[0093] Incidentally, it is preferred that neighboring terminal holders32, 32 on the left and right sides of the trunk receiver 25 be linked toeach other with an expandable hinge 51 which is provided at the midpointwith a bent portion 51 a so that each branch receiver 26 ₁-26 ₆ will beprevented from shaking or inclination.

[0094] The method of producing the connecting plate 10 by using the wireprotector 23 will now be described.

[0095] Insulatingly covered wires 22 are first provided which areconnected to voltage detecting terminals 17. The wires 22 preferablyhave their insulating covers marked with different colors, patterns,stripes, signs or the like for the convenience of maintenance purposesand the like. The covered wires 22 are cut to have predetermined lengthsand peeled at both ends.

[0096] The conductor 22 a exposed at one end of the wire 22, as shown inFIG. 12, is then connected to the wire connecting portion 20 of thevoltage detecting terminal 17, and the conductor 22 a exposed at theother end of the wire 22 is connected to a female-type (or male-type)connector terminal 52 to provide a terminal-attached wire 22′.

[0097] The connector terminal 52 of each terminal-attached wire 22′, asshown in FIG. 13, is inserted at the final step of manufacturing processinto a not-shown terminal receiving cavity of a connector housing 53 tobe locked there through a locking means which is known and not shown.

[0098] Various terminal-attached wires 22′ thus provided are then, asshown in FIG. 6, placed in a predetermined layout on the wire protector23 in an opened condition.

[0099] More specifically, the wire protector 23 is opened as shown inFIG. 6 and mounted on a not-shown workbench. Then, as shown in FIGS. 9and 10, at the terminal holder 32, the element mount portion 19 of thevoltage detecting terminal 17 is placed on the receiving seats 34 einside the receiver frame 34 located on one side (left side on thedrawing of FIG. 10) of the central partition wall 34 a, with the wireconnecting portion 20 placed on the receiver groove 33. In thisinstance, the continuous piece 18 d of the voltage detecting terminal 17is fitted at its base in the cutout 34 c. The connection wire 22 isprovisionally extended up to the positional deviation absorbing portion27 of the related branch receiver 26.

[0100] At the other side (right side on the drawing of FIG. 10) of thecentral partition wall 34 a, the subcover 42 ₁ is raised uprightrelative to the nearby receiver frame 34 through the hinge 43 so as toform a clearance between the receiver frame 34 and the frame 49 of thesubcover 42 ₁. The voltage detecting terminal 17 can then be placedthrough the clearance inside the related receiver frame 34 in the samemanner as mentioned above.

[0101] On closing the subcover 42 ₁ under the condition as mentionedabove, the frame 49 fits in the receiver frames 34, so that the edge 18e of each contact portion 18 comes into contact with the relatedrecessed portion 34 d, and the continuous piece 18 d of each voltagedetecting terminal 17 is sandwiched between the related side wall 34 band recessed wall 49 d, resulting in the terminal holder 32 securelyholding the terminal 17 in a horizontally-extended condition. The lockprojections 35 engage with the respective resilient lock pieces 44 tolock the subcover 42 ₁.

[0102] The above procedure is repeated to successively set theterminal-attached wire 22′ (voltage detecting terminal 17 and itsconnection wire 22) in the terminal holder 32 of each branch receiver26.

[0103] Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, the wires 22 are wired through thepositional deviation absorbing portion 27 of each branch receiver 26 ina weaving manner between the bent wall portions 28, 28′ and wirestoppers 30 to form bent portions 22 a. The wires 22 are lightly pulledtoward the trunk receiver 25, wired in a manner separated one by onethrough the wire separating pins 31 located in the trunk receiver 25,and pushed into the respective wire placement grooves 37 of the wireletting-out portion 36 to provisionally hold the wires.

[0104] After completion of wiring each wire 22 in the branch receiver 26and the trunk receiver 25, the main cover 42 o is closed, so that thepositioning pins 47 of the lid 45 fit in the positioning holes 38 of thewire letting-out portion 36, the resilient lock pieces 44 lockinglyengage with the corresponding lock projections 35 of the protector body25, and the placement grooves 37 and the wire holding grooves 46cooperate with each other to securely fix each wire 22. The wires 22 letout through the wire letting-out portion 36, as shown in FIG. 11, arebundled with the wire holding band 39, followed by lockingly engagingits lock piece 40 into the insertion hole 41 a of the lock portion 41.

[0105] Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, voltage detecting terminals 17, whichare connected to the busbars 16, and their connection wires 22 are heldin a predetermined layout in the wire protector 23 to provide a harnessP₀ for the connecting plate 10, 10′.

[0106] The harness P₀, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, is then set in amold for insert molding.

[0107] In other words, the lower die 54 is provided inside its cavity 55with positioning lock pins 56, 57 for the busbars 16, 16′ and the PTCelement connection pieces 15, and at the four corners with collarlocking pins 58. The die 54 is further provided with positioning grooves(not shown) engageable with the positioning ribs 50 of the wireprotector 23. Denoted 59 is a placement recess for receiving therein thewire letting-out portion 36.

[0108] After the busbars 16, 16′, 16″ and the PTC element connectionpieces 15 as well as the collars 60 are accurately positioned throughthe respective lock pins 56-58 in the cavity 55, the harness P₀ is setso that predetermined busbars 16 are in register with the relatedvoltage detecting terminals 17.

[0109] The registration, as mentioned hereinabove, is easily effected bysuperimposing the contact portion 18 of the voltage detecting terminal17 on the end of the set busbar 16, 16′ such that its resin leakageprevention piece 18 c and continuous piece 18 d abut against the endedges of the busbar 16, 16′ perpendicular to each other (FIG. 5).

[0110] The upper die (not shown) is then set on the lower die 54, and byeffecting the insert molding under predetermined conditions, a moldedpiece P₁ is obtained which. is shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B.

[0111] The molded piece Pi has the busbars 16, 16′ for connecting theelectrodes 2 a, 2 b of batteries A and the PTC element connection pieces15 embedded in its molded resin plate 11. There are opened in the moldedpiece Pi the battery-connecting hexagonal windows 12 and square windows12 and the PTC element-connecting square windows 13, and the elementmount portion 19 of the voltage detecting terminal 17 is exposed in eachfuse mount window 14.

[0112] By mounting the fuse 21 in each fuse mount window 14 of themolded piece 14, the finished connecting plate 10 is obtained.

[0113] In other words, the link piece 19 b as shown in FIG. 16A whichconnects the pair of lead connection pieces 19 a, 19 a at each fusemount window 14 is cut as shown in FIG. 16B, and the leads 21 b of thefuse 21 are inserted into the lead connection holes 19 c of the leadconnection pieces 19 a and subjected to soldering to the respective leadconnection pieces 19 a.

[0114] The resin leakage prevention piece 18 c, which is locatedadjacent the superimposed surfaces of the busbar 16 and the contactportion 18 and in a flow direction of molten resin, blocks the entranceof molten resin in between the superimposed surfaces during the insertmolding, so that these surfaces are contacted with each other and heldin that condition through the molding.

[0115] As shown in FIG. 17A, if molten resin 61 leaks in between thebusbar 16 and the contact portion 18, such can be easily checked throughthe resin leakage checking hole 18 b, thereby preventing in advancedefectives from being produced.

[0116] On the other hand, in case of no such resin leakage, the the linkpiece 19 b located in the fuse mount window 14 of the molded piece Pi,as shown in FIG. 17B, is cut away, and the leads 21 b of the fuse 21 areinserted into the respective lead connection holes 19 of the opposedlead connection pieces 19 a, followed by their soldering to the leadconnection pieces 19 a. The finished connecting plate 10 is thusobtained.

[0117] Incidentally, the connecting plate 10′ used in a pair with theconnecting plate 10, which carries no voltage detecting terminals 17,may be produced by a conventional insert molding method without usingthe wire protector 23. Reverting to FIG. 1, batteries A are inserted insuccession into the respective battery insertion holes 5 of the batteryholder B, with their positive and negative electrodes 2 a, 2 b reversedin an alternating manner, and then the connecting plates 10 and 10′ areset on the electrodes 2 a, 2 b prominent at opposite ends of the holderB, followed by fastening by turns the busbars 16 (16′) at their oppositeends to the respective positive and negative electrodes 2 a, 2 b of thebatteries A with bolts 63 (FIG. 4).

[0118] The batteries A₁, A₂, A₃ . . . A_(n), as shown in FIG. 3A, arethus connected in series by means of the busbars 16 (16′). Because afuse 21 is connected, via the respective voltage detecting terminal 17,to the single-pole busbar 16″ and the double-pole busbar 16 at their oneend, by connecting their wires 22 to the not-shown ECU, the batteries Acan be monitored for voltage in pairs and can be quickly replaced inunits of two batteries in case of abnormal voltage.

[0119] Further, the PTC element 3 set on each battery A₁, A₂ . . . A_(n)has leads (not shown) at its opposite sides which are connected toopposite ends of the related connection piece 15 located in theconnecting plate 10 (10′). In other words, not-shown screws are threadedin connection holes 15 b at the opposite ends 15 a of the connectionpiece 15. The leads of the PTC element 3 as mentioned above are led outthrough respective passages 13 a formed at a side in the square windows13 and connected to the related connection piece 15 with the screwsthreaded in the connection piece 15.

[0120] The PTC elements 3 of all the batteries A₁, A₂ . . . A_(n), asshown in FIG. 3B, are thus connected in series. Consequently, in case ofan abnormal amount of heat generated in any of the batteries A, theresistance of the PTC element 3 at that battery A increases abruptly,resulting in the interruption of the check circuit. Thus, owing to thestructure as mentioned above, abnormal voltage and abnormal generationof heat in the batteries A inside the battery holder B can be constantlymonitored.

[0121] In the structure above, the layout of the busbars 16, 16′ in theconnecting plate 10 is determined by the number and positions of thebattery insertion holes 5 provided in the support plates 6 of thebattery holder B as shown in FIG. 1. The dimension between voltagedetecting terminals 17, 17 also requires a high degree of accuracy.

[0122] In other words, in the connecting plate 10, as shown in FIG. 14with the harness P₀ used as a substitute for the connecting plate 10,the dimension X between the outer, remote voltage detecting terminals17, 17, the dimension Y between the inner terminals 17, 17, thedimension Z between the vertically spaced terminals 17, 17 require ahigh degree of precision, and it is difficult to effect the insertmolding in one step, with the dimensions between neighboring and remoteones of the large number of busbars 16, 16′ and wire-attached voltagedetecting terminals 17 maintained to a given degree of accuracy.

[0123] According to this invention, however, the insert molding and thedimension control are made easy by the harness P₀ employing the wireprotector 23.

[0124] In other words, at the time of insert molding as shown in FIGS.14 and 15, the busbars 16 are in advance accurately positioned throughthe lock pins 56 inside the die 54. Accordingly, by setting the harnessP₀ from thereabove, the voltage detecting terminals 17 can be accuratelyplaced in position by one operation. The harness P₀, which has thepositional deviation absorbing portion 27 in each branch receiver 26 andthe hinge 51 between neighboring terminal holders 32, 32, is easilylengthwise and crosswise bendable, with the voltage detecting terminals17 being fixedly maintained in their respective terminal holders 32, soas to be set with ease. In this instance, because the connection wires22 are protected in the wire protector 23, they do not get tangled withone another, nor the voltage detecting terminals 17 are caused to getout of position.

[0125] The connection wires 22 of the voltage detecting terminals 17, asmentioned above, are received and protected in the wire protector 23,and thus, unlike the related art as shown in FIG. 22, do not directlycome into contact with high-temperature molten resin during the insertmolding. Therefore, no heat-resistant wires such as polyimide-coveredwires are required.

[0126] The connection wires 22 of the voltage detecting terminals 17 areheld in an orderly manner in the wire letting-out portion 36 of the wireprotector 23, and further bundled and fixed in position by the wireholding band 39. Therefore, in the stage of the harness P₀, during theinsert molding and in the stage of the finished connecting plate 10, theconcentration of stress or biting by the upper and lower dies asexplained in connection with FIGS. 21A and 21B are precluded.

[0127] In the connecting plate 10 of this invention, as will be apparentfrom a comparison of FIGS. 16A and 16B, the lead connection pieces 19 a,19 a of the element mount portion 19 to which the leads 21 b of the fuse21 are connected, are initially linked by the link piece 19 b.Therefore, during preparation of the harness P₀ and at the time ofinsert molding, the parts of the contact portion 18, element mountportion 19 and wire connecting portion 20 can be handled as a singleunit or voltage detecting terminal 17. A reduction is thus made in thenumber of parts and man-hours, leading to a cost reduction.

[0128] Having now fully described the invention, it will be apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art that many changes and modifications canbe made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as set forth herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A battery-connecting plate comprising: busbarsfor connecting batteries together; and a wire protector which holds in apredetermined layout therein terminals and their connection wires fordetecting voltage of desired ones of said batteries, said busbars andsaid wire protector being fixed in a resin plate by insert molding, withsaid busbars arranged in correspondence with said batteries and withsaid terminals held in contact with related ones of said busbars.
 2. Thebattery-connecting plate according to claim 1, wherein said terminalseach comprises a contact portion superimposed on said respective busbar,a wire connecting portion at which connected to said respectiveconnection wire, and an element mount portion linking said contactportion and said wire connecting portion, and further comprising circuitprotector elements which are, after completion of said insert molding,connected to said respective element mount portions of said terminals.3. The battery-connecting plate according to claim 2, wherein saidconnection wires connected to said respective terminals are let out ofsaid resin plate at one side thereof.
 4. A method of producing abattery-connecting plate as claimed in claim 1, comprising the steps of:providing busbars which connect batteries together; attaching terminalsto one end of wires to produce terminal-attached wires for detectingvoltage of desired ones of said batteries, said terminals each having acontact portion, a wire connecting portion at which attached to saidrespective wire, and an element mount portion linking said contactportion and said wire connecting portion; placing said terminal-attachedwires in a predetermined layout in a wire protector, with tail portionsof said wires let out at one side of said wire protector; setting saidbusbars and said wire protector in a mold such that said busbars are inposition corresponding to an arrangement of said batteries, and saidterminals have their contact portions superimposed on said respectivebusbars; injecting resin into said mold to produce a molded piece withsaid busbars and said terminal-attached wires embedded threin, with saidcontact portions of said terminals on said respective busbars and saidelement mount portions of said terminals left uncovered by said resin;and cutting said element mount portion of each of said terminals andconnecting a respective circuit protector element to said element mountportion in a bridging manner across said cut.
 5. The method according toclaim 4, wherein said busbars each has at least one electrode connectionhole and said contact portions of said terminals each has a centralhole, and wherein said contact portions are superimposed on saidrespective busbars with their said holes aligned to each other.
 6. Themethod according to claim 4, wherein said element mount portions of saidterminals each comprises a link piece at which said element mountportion is cut.
 7. A wire protector comprising: a protector bodyincluding a trunk receiver for receiving trunk wires and a plurality ofbranch receivers continuous to said trunk receiver for receiving branchwires from said trunk wires, said plurality of branch receivers eachincluding a terminal holder provided at a free end thereof and anexpandable positional deviation absorbing portion arranged at anintermediate length thereof; and an open/close cover including a maincover for covering said protector body from said trunk receiver to saidpositional deviation absorbing portions of said branch receivers and aplurality of subcovers for covering said respective branch receiversfrom said terminal holder to said positional deviation absorbingportion, said main cover and said subcovers being rotatably linked viahinges to said protector body at positions corresponding to said trunkreceiver and said respective branch receivers.
 8. The wire protectoraccording to claim 7, further comprising a wire letting-out portionprovided at one end of said trunk receiver, said wire letting-outportion having a plurality of wire placement grooves, and a lit providedon said main cover corresponding to said wire letting-out portion. 9.The wire protector according to claim 7, wherein said positionaldeviation absorbing portion of each of said branch receivers comprises apair of bent portions formed in a staggered manner in opposed side wallsof said branch receiver and stoppers provided projecting in analternating manner from one to the other of inner surfaces of said bentwall portions.
 10. The wire protector according to claim 7, furthercomprising a positioning rib provided on said protector body or saidopen/close cover for positioning said wire protector in a mold.